Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them. 3 Tell the children of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! The Lord Yahweh says, “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against my sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, 4 therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession. They will set their encampments in you and make their dwellings in you. They will eat your fruit and they will drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a stable for camels and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” 6 For the Lord Yahweh says: “Because you have clapped your hands, stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the contempt of your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries. I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” 8 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,’ 9 therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim, 10 to the children of the east, to go against the children of Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations. 11 I will execute judgments on Moab. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” 12 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and taken revenge on them,” 13 therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman. They will fall by the sword even to Dedan. 14 I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath. Then they will know my vengeance,” says the Lord Yahweh. 15 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because the Philistines have taken revenge, and have taken vengeance with contempt of soul to destroy with perpetual hostility,” 16 therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I lay my vengeance on them.”’”
Four neighbors are judged, and in every case the offense is what they said and did while Jerusalem was falling.
The four oracles are short and they are built identically. Each begins with because, quotes the nation's own words or gestures, and ends with the recognition formula. What is prosecuted in every case is a reaction rather than an invasion. The reactions are quoted with a precision that suggests they were widely reported.
Ammon said Aha! against the sanctuary when it was profaned, against the land when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when it went into captivity. The charge is enjoyment, itemized across three separate losses. And the physical detail is added: clapping the hands, stamping the feet, rejoicing with all the contempt of your soul. This is not a nation that attacked. It is a nation that celebrated at a funeral, and the celebration is enough.
Moab's offense is a sentence of five words: the house of Judah is like all the nations. It sounds almost reasonable, and it is the same conclusion the exiles themselves were tempted to draw Ezekiel 20:32. Coming from a neighbor it is a denial that Judah's God was anything in particular, and it is treated as blasphemy rather than as a political observation.
Edom's offense is revenge — taking vengeance and being greatly guilty in doing so — and Philistia's is the same with an added phrase, acting with contempt of soul to destroy with perpetual hostility. Both are charged with using a moment of collapse to settle old accounts. Taken together, the four oracles establish the principle the next seven chapters apply to greater powers. God's judgment on his own people does not license anyone else's. The nations that treated Judah's fall as an opportunity are answerable for the treatment, not for the fall.
settled What this mark means